RCEP nothing but an India-China free trade agreement: Piyush Goyal

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for India's decision to opt-out of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) noting that it was nothing more than a free trade agreement (FTA) between India and China.

"RCEP was nothing but an India-China FTA. Prime Minister Narendra Modiji was truly very courageous in taking the bold decision to not join the RCEP. His conscience did not allow him to sign an agreement which is not in the interest of people of India," Goyal said while addressing the 92nd FICCI annual convention here.

He laid stress on increased engagement between the government and industry for faster growth.

He said India was the best place to invest. "It's the place where you get both a competitive edge and a huge domestic market and people aspiring for a better quality of life," he said.

The minister said India needs to be more competitive. "We need to look and address the problems of the entire value chain. Be it inverted duties, be it dumping, be it unfair subsidies," he said.

The minister said BJP-led Central government does not believe in solving issues individually for a company but doing a root cause analysis and finding sustainable solutions.